Nov. 25, 2013

Worcester Prep's Lilly DiNardo has signed to play lacrosse for the University of Virginia. / Grant L. Gursky photo

Written by

Staff Writer

BERLIN — Since she was young, one Worcester Preparatory girls lacrosse player has known where she wanted to attend college.

But it wasn’t just a dream for senior midfielder Lilly DiNardo. Her parents, Ignatius and Joanie, also always envisioned their daughter attending the university where Joanie worked at the UVA Hospital.

Recently at the Guerrieri Library on Worcester Prep’s campus, the family’s dreams came true when Lilly signed her official letter of intent to play for the University of Virginia.

“It was an amazing feeling committing there since I had to work so hard,” Lilly said. “There’s a lot of traveling involved with lacrosse, hours spent getting my skills up and just attending all the lacrosse functions I needed to.”

The University of Virginia always stood out to her because of all the lacrosse players Lilly met. She said they work hard in the classroom and on the field, and each one embodied the type of person she wanted to be. There is a unified student body at UVA that was also appealing to her, she said. She really saw that on her official visit, on which she attended a football game.

“It’s an awesome feeling,” Ignatius said. “It was first choice and a tremendous academic institution — great town, great location and outstanding lacrosse program. The coaches were very outgoing and showed an extremely interest in Lilly.”

The coaches aren’t going anywhere, either. Head coach Julie Meyers is entering her 19th season, and her staff has been there a long time with her. That was a comforting feeling for both parents.

For Joanie, it was all about the way UVA takes care of its athletes.

“They have it set up so the student-athletes are in an area all day,” she said. “They have their classes then they come back and have their workout area. They have a study area and then they have their dining hall. Everything is just very contained, so her time management will be very easy.”

Lilly added that the student-athlete resources stuck out to her on the visits to the campus. She said the university makes sure you are not slacking on academics and really checks up on grades.

But all the great visits, lacrosse camps or football games could not outshine the moment she received that offer from the coaches.

As she was gathering her things at a summer camp before her sophomore year, Lilly said she had a good feeling that a scholarship was coming her way.

“She said to me, ‘I think after I get all my things out of my room, the coaches would like to speak with us,’ ” Joanie said. “I said, ‘Well what do they want?’ She answered, ‘I think they want to make me an offer.’ I just didn’t even know what to do. I was just so excited, so nervous.”

The rest was history for the DiNardos, although it is almost unfathomable for the parents.

“It’s still hard to even believe,” Joanie said. “So until I see her out on the field, in that uniform, it’s just so exciting.”